Hey everyone! I figured my very first post should be a recipe I have fallen in love with - Paprika Chocolate Chunk Cookies. And you don't even have to be a Member to enjoy this one!!

I first found this recipe on https://www.selefina.com, but I have since tweaked it a bit with vegan and gluten-free suggestions, listed at the bottom. My heritage is Hungarian, so with my tendency to add paprika into anything anyway, this recipe fit right in! 

This recipe makes roughly one dozen cookies, depending on the size of the cookies.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Cup brown sugar
• 1/2 Cup granulated sugar
• 5 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1+1/2 Cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 4 ounces bittersweet dark chocolate

Directions: 

1. Beat both sugars and oil with an electric hand mixer until well combined. 
2. Add the egg and vanilla, and beat again to join.
3. Mix all dry ingredients in a separate bowl and add to the wet all at once. Beat again until just combined. 
4. With a rubber spatula, fold in the chocolate chunks until evenly distributed. 
5. Spoon the batter onto a lightly greased baking sheet, and bake at 350F for 10-12 minutes or until lightly golden brown. 
6. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for two minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Substitutions, Tips, & Tricks:

• For a more caramel flavour in the finished cookies, you can use 1 Cup brown sugar instead of half granulated, half brown.
• The original recipe calls for grapeseed oil instead of vegetable oil. Both work really well, and I've heard that sunflower oil would also provide a nice flavour. I haven't tested it yet, but you're welcome to try! 
• Because this recipe doesn't use butter, it can easily be made vegan by substituting the egg. I'd recommend using 1/4 Cup unsweetened apple sauce.
• If you're wanting to be gluten free, substitute the all-purpose flour with almond flour. The nutty flavour is subtle, but it'll add a nice depth to the cookies!
• Even though the recipe calls for only 4 ounces of bittersweet chocolate, I used six. We love dark chocolate in this house!
• For more uniform cookies, you can use a cookie batter scooper, or even roll the dough into 1-inch balls and gently press them flat on the baking sheet before baking.